NBA Live 2004
EA just broke off one on Sega
Tags: NBA LIve 2004 Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Andrew on Oct 29th, 2003
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| NBA LIve 2004 (title page) | |||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
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As a long time sports fanatic, the yearly battles between the old established giant, EA, and young up-and-comer, SEGA, is the real horse race for the sports fan. While I freely admit that in the past, I have always sided with EA, for the controls system alone (which has always been leaps and bounds above Sega) the past couple of NBA LIVE offerings, I have had to say that the only thing SEGA did better was the NBA 2K series. While thanks to the huge improvements over LIVE 2003’s absurd lack of defense, and with this year’s SEGA title being a huge step backwards, there is no longer any doubt as to who the king is this year.
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The first thing you notice about the game this year is that there is actually defense, you can’t just run by every person that they place in front of you. The freestyle controls, which made their debut last year, are still there, but the AI, the weak side help and the use of zones make it almost impossible to run the same play two times in a row. The ability to double team intelligently, as well as the ability to trap, and front post players make for a much better flow to the game and requires actual SKILL to score. You actually need to know how to move a NBA offense to some degree if you want to score more then the computer.
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The other difference of course is that they have changes some of the controls this year to even things out. Gone is the cross over button and the absurd ability to pull off every move known to man with every player. Now there is a dunk/lay-up button and a power hop (sorry to rant here, but is there a more blatant breaking of the rules in any sport then that stupid hop that players take before jumping towards the basket? THAT’S A TRAVEL DAMN IT, CALL IT!!!!), or drop step button, which definitely makes post play different, and allows for much better control of offenses without allowing for an easy drive to the basket each time.
Other changes to the game are a new free throw shooting control, the lack of ability to assign your defensive players, and of course the EA NBA shop which allows you to buy all sorts of goodies such as clothes, shoes, players and other secrets. You also get to run a more complete version of a NBA training camp to help improve your players during the season modes.
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This version of the game is far from flawless however. There is some slowdown in the frame rates at certain places. The dynasty mode completely underrates some players and teams (How is it that San Antonio is only the 5th or 6th Best team?) and players do not improve as much as they should from year to year. The shop zone is known to have some weird bugs happen with the dollars which you have earned and you can not bring the classic players, which are available for one on one and exhibition play, into the fantasy drafts.
Overall, this is such a monumental improvement in what had been a ignored and dieing franchise that not only did EA stymie SEGA’s growth into the market, but they may have slapped them back a few years. Now after having played SEGA’s offering this year, SEGA probably did enough of that themselves…
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ DEFENSE!!!! + New controll and free throw system + Online play + New post graphics and controls |
9.2 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Poor dynasty mode - Still has a lot of bugs |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Thanks to this offering, not only is my faith in EA restored, but I have a feeling that I will be waiting in line for LIVE 2005. | |
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Tags: NBA LIve 2004
Posted by Andrew on Oct 29th, 2003 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
